1. Q. Does the company have legal title to its much-touted JUNIN mining concessions in Ecuador? A. NO. On November 12th, the government annulled the titles to the company’s Junin mining concessions as part of the government’s plans to recuperate thousands of mining concessions.. The company also lost titles to other concessions in other parts of the country. The decision cannot be appealed. http://www.minasypetroleos.gov.ec/mmp-portwar/faces/indexMinas.jspx http://www.minasypetroleos.gov.ec/mmp-portwar/face/index.jspx;jsessionid=81f6cd11d6c990fafdc30340e691

2. Q. Does the company have as much copper and molybdenum at its Junin site as it claims it has on its web page? A. NO. In 2007, Micon International, the company responsible for the inflated estimates of copper and molybdenum at the company’s Junin site, admitted it could not confirm its own estimates due to, among other factors, termite damage to the original core samples taken in the 1990’s by a Japanese firm. The company, however, still has this much higher figure on its web site.

3. Q. Has the company undertaken exploration activities in its JUNIN concessions? A. NO. In spite of the millions of dollars the company claims it has spent on exploration at JUNIN, Copper Mesa Mining Corporation has not been able to undertake any exploratory activities whatsoever at its JUNIN mining concessions. The last exploration undertaken within the Junin mining concessions was in 1996 by Bishimetals. Bishimetals’ INFERRED Cu and Mo resources are a fraction of what Copper Mesa claims to have.

4. Q. Does the company have a valid Environmental Impact Study for exploration at its JUNIN site? A. NO. The government refused to even process the company’s 2006 environmental study due to gross inadequacies Since then, the company has not presented a new study. But that hasn’t kept it from spending millions of dollars.

5. Q. Does the project have support from the local communities and government? A. NO. There is no mining project in all of Latin America that has galvanized so much local government and community opposition. The communities have for years physically blocked access to the concessions, presented several lawsuits and constitutional injunctions to stop the project, and in 2005, burned down the company’s camp. In 2008, the County government of Cotacachi (where the Junin mining project is found) created an 18,000 hectare 45,000 acres) protected area which coincides with the area of the mining concessions.

6. Q. Is it true that the area where the minerals were found is rich in primary forests, harbors dozens of endangered animal species and is rich in archeological sites? A. Yes. The area where Bishimetals discovered copper is covered in some of the most biologically diverse and threatened forest in the world, which is the habitat for jaguars, spectacled bears, the brown-faced spider monkey and over a dozen other protected species in facing extinction. Additionally, the area is extremely rich in pre-Incan archeological sites.

7. Q. Is it true the current national government is pro-mining? A. NO. There are officials within the government, including President Correa, who have expressed openness to what he’s called “responsible mining”. However, many within the government are vehemently opposed to large-scale mining.

8. Q. Is it true the new mining legislation will make it easier for the company to reactivate its projects? A. NO. The new mining legislation currently being debated in the equivalent of Congress contains higher than usual royalties, a 51% tax on profits, and tough social and environmental regulations. The law also will create a National Mining Corporation, which will undertake some of the more lucrative projects. Additionally, the law is more geared to supporting small-scale, and artisanal miners than the large transnational mining companies

9. Q. Is it true the company and/or its directors are being sued in Canada? A. Good question for to ask the directors

10. Q. Do you really want to own shares of a company with this record? A. ______________________

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DECOIN’S Work

An Update of Current Work
DECOIN was founded in January 1995 as a grass-roots environmental organization to find ways to conserve the unique biodiversity in the Intag area of northwestern Ecuador. The area is part of two of the world's most important biotic regions, the Tropical Andes, and the Chocó-Darien Western-Ecuadorian Biological Hotpots. The area of influence of our work encompasses several life zones, including tropical rain forests, and cloud forests. More...

About DECOIN

Every year, Ecuador loses another 2.3 percent of its forests - it has the highest deforestation rate in South America. In an effort to reverse the trend with local and regional eco-activism, the grass-roots organization DECOIN was founded in January of 1995.

DECOIN (Organizacion para la Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag) is a regional organization created to battle perhaps the greatest threat to the forests: the mining companies that have thousands of acres of government-granted concessions throughout the Intag.